Buddy

I love our dog. He is the best dog in the whole wide.....in our house. And not just because he is the only dog in our house! But why is it, that when you go out for a relativley mud free walk, 5 minutes before you get back to the car, does he slosh through the biggest, yukkiest, muddiest puddle you can imagine?! I think he thinks it's funny. Thanks Buddy!

As far as dogs go, he is pretty special. He's easy to train, loyal, loving...all the things you could ask for in a dog. He's not even that manic either, well, for a Springer. He is however, incredibly clumsy and a little bit stupid. He barks at the wind. Not at people, at the wind. He thinks he can jump to reach the birds in the sky. He tries to steal other people's picnics.

Once, he ran so fast down the stairs that he headbutted the wall at the bottom. He looked a little dazed, but carried on again. The wall is a different story! There is now a nice, big hole where his head went straight through the plasterboard.

The stair carpet also needs replacing. He didn't chew it up. Instead, he pulled at a tiny frayed corner so he could lift up the carpet. And then shredded the underlay. That was a nice, soggy mess to come home to. He sat,in his bed staring at the floor when he realised I had returned, with a guilty look on his face.  Buddy hates when you say 'Oh dear' to him. That's all you need to say for him to know he's been naughty and you're not happy about it! After that he'll creep round after you, feeling all sorry for himself until you finally give in to cuddles.

He had the snip a couple of weeks ago. Now I know this can't be a nice experience for any man (or dog!) but he really did milk that one. The vet warned me on the phone that he had been crying and making a fuss since coming round from the anaesthetic. How bad could it be, I had thought? Most dog's get over these things pretty quickly. But Buddy cried and howled all the way home in the car. Rupert cried to.The more Rupert cried, the more Buddy cried; and the more Buddy cried, Rupert cried. The noise was awful. Buddy continued to cry and moan all night.

The following morning was like nothing had ever happened. He was leaping around, crashing up and down the stairs, tripping over the big bucket collar that he had to wear to stop licking at his stitches, scaring the cat. For two weeks he couldn't come off his lead when going for a walk. That wasn't much fun.

He's a big baby really. But we love him. There's never a dull moment in this household, and I wouldn't have it any other way...Well maybe I would do sometimes...But then i'm sure that would get boring...